Expert: Loren Stevens - 2/23/2010

Question
hello loren,my name is tyree and i go to broadmoor high.i want to know what college degrees you need to be on the swat team.i also want to know whats the pay in the job.and last what is the future outcome of being retired after a swat officer.

Answer
Hello Tyree,
Well sir, you really don't need a college degree per se. But any and all education, skill sets and KSA's (knowledge skills abilities) just makes you a more attractive candidate. It's about who can pony up the best/most relevant skills and potential.
You need to understand, that SWAT is a specialized assignment, not generally a "career", for several reasons. An officer or agent really needs to distinguish him or herself at the primary duties first.
Pay...you'd have to check with each agency that has a special ops unit as pay scales vary. And, there is usually step increments per each pay grade.
I should say, that a number of federal agencies have special ops units, and those agencies may very well require a college degree.

I don't understand the last portion of your question. Retirement from a special ops unit, is not unlike retirement from anything else. Retirement is another chapter in life, that is usually planned for, in terms of activity.
Most of my career was working Organized Crime, in a Criminal Intelligence unit, and special ops with covert investigations. So, there are a number of differences in various assignments in special ops. And, you'll discover there are also differences in primary and secondary duties in a SWAT unit. Team members  are cross- trained, but there are specializations within that group structure as well.
In closing, permit me to invite you to review other Q&A matters on my page, as others have posed similar issues in the past.
Good Luck, Semper Fi.
loren